Dracula III: Legacy (Video 2005)

In the near future, Uffizi and Luke travel to the remote reaches of war torn Romania to rescue Elizabeth and finish the vampire once and for all. Along the way, they encounter TV news journalist and a corps of rebels trying to fight the vampire uprising which plagues their country.

Director:

Patrick Lussier

Writers:

Joel Soisson, Patrick Lussier

Stars:

Jason Scott Lee, Stephen Billington, Diane Neal

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jason Scott Lee	...	Father Uffizi
Stephen Billington	...	Dracula II
Diane Neal	...	Elizabeth Blaine
Jason London	...	Luke
Rutger Hauer	...	Dracula III
Ilinca Goia	...	Marta
George Grigore	...	Bruno
Roy Scheider	...	Cardinal Siqueros
Tom Kane	...	EBC Anchorman
Alexandra Wescourt	...	Julia Hughes
Serban Celea	...	Gabriel
Gavril Patru	...	Canadian Lieutenant
Giuliano Doman	...	French Sergeant
Valentin Popescu	...	French Captain
Nicodim Ungureanu	...	Pavel

Storyline

Father Uffizi and Luke travels through a Romania destroyed by the civil war and the vampires. Luke is trying to save Elizabeth from the claws of Dracula, and Uffizi to terminate with the vampires. Along their journey, they meet the British television journalist Julia Hughes covering the war, and the trio follow together facing dangerous situations with the rebels and the vampires.

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Plot Keywords:

vampire | rebel | romania | dracula | impalement | 

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Genres:

Horror

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for vampire violence, language and nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA Romania

Language:

English Romanian French

Release Date:

12 July 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dracula 3

Filming Locations:

Bucharest, Romania

Box Office

Budget:

$3,200,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dimension Films, Neo Art & Logic, Castel Film Romania

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Dracula II: Ascension and this movie were shot together as one movie. It was the director's and producers' intention to split the film into two during the shooting.

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Goofs

After hours in the jail cell, the streak of blood on Luke's face is still wet.

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Quotes

Father Uffizi: He's awoken from death so many times. I wonder if he even remembers how he truly began.
Luke: Well, do you know? I mean, how he began.
Father Uffizi: It doesn't matter anymore. What matters now is how he ends.

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Connections

References Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997)

User Reviews

A solid way to end the series.

Dracula III: Legacy starts immediately where Dracula II: Ascension left off, with Dracula and his new 'bride' Elizabeth (Diane Neal) fleeing the USA, Luke (Jason London) and Father Uffizi (Jason Scott Lee) in hot pursuit, their journey taking them to Romania for a final confrontation with the legendary vamp (now played by Rutger Hauer) in his castle lair.

Filmed back-to-back with part II of the Craven/Lussier series, this chapter is naturally very similar in style and tone, a slick, contemporary blend of action, gore, and humour. Luke and Uffizi's Romanian road-trip is perhaps not as loaded with vamp action as I would have liked (they seem to have just as many problems with the local humans as they do with bloodsuckers), and its a long while before we get to see Hauer as Drac, but there is enough fun throughout to make this a satisfying end to the series.

The pairing of Lee and London works particularly well, the latter ably playing comedy sidekick to Lee's bad-ass priest/vampire killer with a troubled soul, and some welcome girl-power comes in the form of Alexandra Wescourt, who plays feisty news reporter Julia Hughes. Rutger Hauer is always cool in my book (and he has previous experience at playing a vampire), but as much as I enjoyed his performance, he does look a bit too 'weathered' here to be playing Dracula (what's with the messy stubble?), especially considering that Stephen Billington and Gerard Butler played the character in the earlier films.

For me, the best thing about the film is the gore, which includes a juicy 'spear in the eye' gag, a macabre display of impaled priests, a bit of face melting with holy water, Father Uffizi whipping off heads and limbs right, left and centre, and in my favourite moment—an attack by a pair of creepy circus vampires—the cutting in half of a female acrobat and the ingenious staking of a clown on stilts.

6.5 out of 10 (rounded up to 7 for the cool ending, which I won't spoil by describing here).